Age and sex related variations in the levels of tear proteins in healthy Indian people

In 150 healthy Indians, aged 10 months to 84 years, levels of total proteins. IgA, IgG and lysozyme in tears have been estimated to find age and sex, related variations. No sex related changes, were observed but levels increased significantly with advancing age upto 30 years, remained stationary between 31–45 years, and started declining thereafter, Immunoglobulin G was quantifable in 26% cases only. Furthermore, tear samples with high concentrations of total proteins had high level of IgA and lysozyme.     

Predicting pre-service teachers’ preparedness for inclusive education: Bangladeshi pre-service teachers’ attitudes and perceived teaching-efficacy for inclusive education

This study reports on the second phase of a larger study, which investigated the preparedness of pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms in Bangladesh. Phase 1 employed two standardised scales that were used with 1623 pre-service teachers from 16 teacher education institutions to measure their attitudes and perceived teaching-efficacy for inclusive education. The findings of Phase 1 indicated that the level and length of training, along with gender, influenced both teacher attitudes and teaching-efficacy. In Phase 2, semi-structured interviews with six administrative heads of the pre-service teacher education institutions were conducted in order to better understand these findings. Outcomes of Phase 2 indicated that curriculum, teacher-related and a number of contextual variables may explain the differences in the findings of this study that were in sharp contrast to those from previous international research. Recommendations for policy and curriculum reform for pre-service teacher education are also made.     

Kolb,Liz (2011) Cell phones in the classroom ISTE & Eurospan (London) isbn 978‐156484299‐2 208 pp £28.50http://www.iste.org/Store/Product.aspx?ID=2108

A great resource and useful practical book for teachers and administrators, this offers practical guidelines, hints and tips on using cellphones in classrooms integrating Web 2.0 applications. Indeed, if its content is likely to be relevant to your work, I recommend you borrow a copy for a time. Ramesh Sharma     

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in alcoholics and non-alcoholics and its value as a Biochemical marker in alcoholism

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in a normal reference population from North India was determined from results of 22 healthy subjects (12 male and 10 female). We compared these data with results of 19 alcoholic patients (13 male and 6 female). The mean erythrocyte ALDH activity of male and female alcohol abusers was 16.2% and 20.9% lower than the mean values for healthy subjects, respectively (P<0.001 and <0.01). It is proposed that erythrocyte ALDH activity may be a useful clinical chemical marker of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.     

Negotiating meanings of gender justice: Critical reflections on dialogs and debates in a non-governmental organization (NGO)

In this paper, we reflect upon how dialogs and debates in a non-governmental organization (NGO) – CARE India in the context of a girls’ education project shaped staff members’ understandings of gender justice. As CARE India staff shared their experiences in the field, in the organization, and in domestic spaces during gender training sessions and other forums, their different politics in these spaces shaped how they translated global discourses of gender justice to produce fluid, contested, and contextual understandings. While these dialogs included the voices of diverse social actors in identifying the capabilities needed for gender justice in education, they were often reframed by local NGO actors.     

Demographic differences in changing pre‐service teachers’ attitudes,sentiments and concerns about inclusive education

The preparation of teachers for regular schools has clearly needed to undergo quite significant change in recent years. One major adjustment has been the necessity to prepare teachers for progressively more diverse student populations as they will increasingly be required to teach in inclusive classrooms. Many teacher education institutions are, therefore, offering units of work that aim to tackle this. Utilizing an international data set of 603 pre‐service teachers, consideration is given to the effect of a range of demographic differences on changing pre‐service teacher attitudes toward inclusion; sentiments towards people with a disability and in reducing their concerns about inclusion when involved in a focused unit of work. Pre‐ and post‐training comparisons are made which identify a range of variables that impact on changing pre‐service teacher perceptions about inclusion. The discussion focuses on the importance of differentiating teacher preparation courses to address these different needs of pre‐service teachers.     

A metric measure for direct comparison of competing models in covariance structure analysis

Comparing the fit of alternative models has become a standard procedure for analyzing covariance structure analysis. Comparison of alternative models is typically accomplished by examining the fit of each model to sample data. It is argued that rather than using this indirect approach, one should do direct comparisons of the similarities and differences among competing models. It is shown that among the existing good‐ness‐of‐fit indexes, the root mean square residual (RMSR) is the only one that can be used for this purpose. However, the RMSR fails to satisfy some important statistical desiderata. Rao's Distance (RD), an alternate measure, is shown to overcome this limitation of RMSR. The preference for RD over RMSR for model comparisons is illustrated through a detailed analysis of a particular sample of multitrait‐multimethod data. A simulation study conducted to empirically investigate the sampling behavior of RD reveals that the true orderings of intermodel proximities are recovered (on average) with a fair degree of accuracy.